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Wow!

52 answers in no time flat!

Of course this is a big issue, as most of us know that even if you 
are asymptomatic, a tiny bit of gluten can still cause damage.

The lesson seems to have sunk in:

41 people said classified themselves as super-vigilant.

3 of those say they were super-vigilant despite not being 
particularly sensitive.
One gets no symptoms except gas. One has "mild" symptoms, and one has 
none at all.

11 classified themselves as semi-vigilant, defined as follows:

"When in doubt, sometimes I don't do without."

Another said "semi" because she was willing to use the kitchen after 
cleaning it up after her husband made flour-coated fried chicken.

A couple of people classified themselves as "semi" because they eat oatmeal.

Another said she is vigilant at home, but takes her chances at a 
dinner party when her friends say they've made her food gluten-free.

And another:
  "I am not sensitive at all and don't hesitate to get fries or
a grilled chicken salad at McDonalds  I also drink Bud Lite
because they assured me it is gluten free, but may affect some
people.....  I have had 3 endoscopies in the last 10 years and two 
colonoscopies. 
Last year the Doc said,"your villi are standing tall !"

Obviously, there is self-selection bias here. But with all the talk 
about how hard the diet is and what a big adjustment it is, I find it 
interesting that even the people who defined themselves as 
semi-vigilant would probably seem, to non-Celiacs, pretty darn 
careful. Gluten yields to soap and water, after all (the flour in the 
kitchen) and we know there is scientific data that says oatmeal is 
fine. (Just so you know, I avoid oatmeal, and my own rule is that my 
kitchen stays gluten-free.) So even semi-vigilant is still pretty 
vigilant.

The reason for the question is that my medical-article-writing 
friend, using widespread noncompliance among Type II diabetics as her 
model, assumed that I must be the most vigilant Celiac around. Nope. 
Super-vigilant seems to be typical.

Thanks for all your quick replies.

best regards,
Mary B.
NYC
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